ISLAMABAD, Dec 11 (APP): Pakistan on Thursday reiterating its stance that Afghan soil was being used to launch terrorist attacks inside its borders, with clear indications of Indian involvement, demanded that the Afghan leadership provide a written assurance committing to end this misuse of their territory.
Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi, at his weekly press briefing, responding to a resolution adopted by a gathering of religious scholars in Kabul underscoring that Afghanistan’s territory must not be used to threaten or harm any other nation, called it a “positive development”, and welcomed the realisation of the gravity of the situation.
However, he said that such kind of commitments had been expressed in the past too, but remained unfulfilled.
He said that during the talks with Afghanistan and the mediation efforts by brotherly countries, Pakistan insisted on written assurances from Afghanistan.
“So whether this resolution can amount to such written assurances, we will see if it has come officially from the leadership. So we will wait, see, and evaluate this document, but certainly we would require written assurances from the Afghan leadership on this issue,” he reiterated.
To a question, the spokesperson said that the terrorist elements, including TTP, Fitna al Khawarij and Fitnatul Hind, who were operating from the Afghan soil, had the active support of India. So any kind of weapon systems or any agent of violence transferred between India and these elements in Afghanistan cannot be ruled out, he added.
He told the media that Pakistan had documentary evidence of Indian involvement in sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan, with Kulbhushan Jadhav and the attack on Jaffar Express being among numerous such examples.
Highlighting the unabated human rights abuses by India in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, he said the UN human rights experts and successive reports of the international rights bodies repeatedly documented widespread violations in IIOJK, including nearly 2,800 arbitrary arrests following the recent Pehalgam attack.
He said that the Kashmiri people’s inalienable right to self-determination remained on the UN Security Council’s agenda and reiterated that Pakistan would continue to extend unwavering moral, political, and diplomatic support until this right was fully realised in accordance with relevant UN resolutions.
Referring to the Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s two-day visit to Islamabad, he said that the bilateral defence cooperation as well as the Gaza situation were discussed.
However, he said that contributing to the international stabilization force would be a sovereign decision of any country.
“As far as Pakistan is concerned, such a sovereign decision has not been taken as yet.”
Andrabi told the media that Pakistan had cleared the humanitarian aid to Afghanistan as part of its willingness to provide seamless movement of humanitarian assistance, and it would be up to the Taliban to receive that.
Calling the Indian blockade of SAARC process regrettable, he said that Pakistan was committed to multilateralism and would welcome any initiative aimed at strengthening development, prosperity and regional connectivity in South Asia and beyond.
Asked about the Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s interaction with UK authorities seeking the extradition of certain individuals, he said, “As of now, there is no formal extradition treaty between Pakistan and the UK.”
However, he said that in the absence of a formal treaty, the extradition cases could be processed on a case-to-case basis.
To the media reports of Oman sending its Jaguar aircraft to India, the spokesperson believed that those were “un-commissioned and un-flyable” Jaguars. So if India is collecting junk for its airports, I have no comment on that.”
Highlighting the diplomatic engagements during the last week, Spokesperson Andrabi referred to the Indonesia president’s visit which marked discussions and a resolve to elevate the bilateral partnership, particularly trade, investment, defence, education, health and technology, and to further collaborate on exploring untapped opportunities in agriculture, IT, defence, a lot of products and skills developments.
He said eight MoUs were signed, focusing on higher education, scholarships, the SMEs, national archives, narcotics control, health, and Halal products. Besides this, the Chief of the Army Staff and the Chief of Defence Forces, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir also called on him and defence cooperation was the primary focus of the talks.
He also apprised the media of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar’s telephonic interactions with Foreign Minister of Iran Abbas Araghchi and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al-Saud, wherein they discussed the bilateral and regional matters.
The spokesperson rejected and condemned the Indian External Affairs Minister’s anti-Pakistan remarks, calling them “highly inflammatory, baseless and irresponsible” and added that Pakistan’s institutions, including armed forces, were a pillar of national security and remained dedicated to safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.
He said that the May 2025 conflict vividly demonstrated Pakistan’s armed forces’ professionalism, as well as their resolve to defend the motherland and the people of Pakistan against any Indian aggression in a befitting, effective, and yet responsible manner.
He said that the attempts by Indian leadership to defame Pakistan’s state institution and its leadership were part of a propaganda campaign designed to distract attention from India’s destabilizing action in the region and beyond, as well as its state-sponsored terrorists in Pakistan.